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Historic day for blue luge: gold for men as well!

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Memorable day for the Italian luge at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics: after the triumph in the women’s doubles competition of our Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer, the men also won the gold medal, just over an hour apart, in the men’s doubles final. Rejoicing were Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kaizenwaldner. The Azzurri, who had finished the first heat in third place, were the protagonists of a resounding second heat that allowed them to finish ahead of Austrians Steu and Kindl, who came in just 8 thousandths behind.

Great enthusiasm from the two Azzurri, who commented on their success to Fisi channels: “We started after PyeongChang 2018: we worked a lot, we grew up – said Rieder -. This summer we invested a lot of time, both in the gym and in the workshop to fix all the details of the sled. We definitely wanted to take advantage of the opportunity, which was made possible by the efforts of everyone who helped create this magnificent track. From the first day of training we immediately found a good relationship with Eugenio Monti, we felt it ours”.

“We worked on ourselves – he added -, without thinking about others, even when in the World Cup the results were not excellent. We often told ourselves to think about the Olympics. Today in the first run we realized we could really compete for medals, there was some nervousness but we believed in this gold. And a perfect run came”. Bronze medals went to Germans Wendl and Arlt. The American pairing, which was leading, slipped to sixth place, making the Cortina Sliding Center audience explode with joy. Italy, thanks to this double triumph in luge, rises to 4 gold medals, 13 in total.

Luca FranzosiMilano Cortina, social on edge after Pietro Sighel’s jubilation. Photo

Social on tilt after Pietro Sighel's exultation
The champion decided to cross the finish line of the mixed short track relay in this way
Once certain of the gold medal, Sighel turned toward his rivals to look them in the face

As was easily predictable, Sighel's exultation sparked great controversy
Many users on social have criticized the champion by calling him unsportsmanlike and a blowhard
"I wanted to try to close in an epic way for the home crowd" pointed out Pietro Sighel

"We had the time to do it, I tried to control and then turn around to spruce up the audience a bit"

"I didn’t want to disrespect the opponents, absolutely: it was more to leave a mark on the home crowd" told Eurosport
Petro Sighel’s justifications did not appease the many fans who continued to insult him on social networks

As often happens, many of the insults come from users who do not have a real name as a username
Most often the accounts that post the harshest messages have fancy names and photos…
L'Italy, however, won the gold medal by finishing ahead of Canada, Belgium and China

“I dedicate it to my family, especially to my father Anton who always supported me” said Emanuel Rieder again, moving on to the dedication chapter. “I think I dedicate it to my friend Walter, who passed away only two weeks ago: today I felt he was coming down with me” instead explained Simon Kainzwaldner.

The dedication is to my friend Walter, who passed away only two weeks ago.

Turning to the pair work, Kainzwaldner said of his teammate: “Emanuel is an excellent driver, he always knows how to find the right lines and can keep calm. One flaw? Maybe he plays a bit’too much on the pc!”. So instead Rieder: “Simon&#8220s great virtue is that he always works, on every detail of the sled, he never stops. Of course, he could stay in bed more, he always wants to get up early!”.

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